Expertise

Department

Profile

Prior to joining the Department of Management and Organization at Boston College in 2008, Pratt was a professor of organizational behavior at the University of Illinois. He currently enjoys a courtesy appointment with the Department of Psychology. He also serves as an associate editor for the Administrative Science Quarterly, and is an Academy of Management Fellow.

His research is problem-centered and process-oriented, and consequently he tends to engage in cross-level research. His interests include how individuals connect with the work that they do, as well as to the organizations, professions, occupations, and other collectives in which they find themselves. Theoretically, his research draws heavily from theories of identity and identification, meaning, emotion, intuition, and culture (e.g., artifacts). Methodologically, while he has published work that utilizes lab research and surveys, much of his work is ethnographic or otherwise qualitative in nature. Recent research projects center on meaningful work, collective ambivalence, professional identity work, and the social construction of trust among firefighters.

His work has appeared in various outlets, including the Academy of Management Annual Review, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Management Inquiry, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Management Learning, Organizational Research Methods, Organization Science, Qualitative Inquiry, Science, Small Group Research, Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, and in numerous edited books. He also has co-edited the books: Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism(with A. Rafaeli, 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates) and The Handbook of Organizational Identity (with M. Schultz, B. Ashforth, and D. Ravasi, 2016, Oxford University Press). Dr. Pratt was a recipient of the 2007 Best Paper Award for the Academy of Management Review (with Erik Dane).

Pratt, M.G., Rockmann, K, & Kaufmann, J.2006. Constructing Professional Identity: The Role of Work and Identity Learning Cycles in the Customization of Identity among Medical Residents. Academy of Management Journal,49(2): 235-262.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Pratt was the inaugural qualitative associate editor for the Academy of Management Journal and was a Nontraditional Research Editor at the Journal of Management Inquiry. He has also been a guest editor for Organizational Research Methods. He has been an active member of the Academy of Management. He is a former Division/Program/PDW Chair for the Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, and former representative-at-large for the Research Methods Division, of the Academy of Management. He has also served on numerous committees including the Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award, the Organizational Behavioral Award, the Best Paper in the Academy of Management Review, and the Best Paper in the Academy of Management Journal. He has also been a judge for the INFORMS dissertation proposal competition.